Saratoga Springs>> It didn’t take more than a couple minutes in the winner’s circle and a brisk walk to the jockey’s room to see why the fans at Saratoga Race Course have been waiting so long to see Frankie Dettori.

“Yes, for 25 years,” said Dettori with a laugh, before heading back to the dressing room, passing through droves of fans reaching out for a high fives and yelling “Frankie!” as he passed by.

The 43-year-old Italian, one of horse racing’s biggest international stars, made his Saratoga debut on Friday, riding for trainer Wesley Ward in five of the day’s 10 races, which included victories aboard Aventure Love in the eighth race and Jet Majesty in the 10th race.

Minutes after winning his first race, Dettori trotted over to the circle with Aventure Love, his arms raised in the air as a crowd of fans cheered. He then leapt off the horse into the air — to the sound of an even bigger cheer — before posing for pictures and chatting with a group of reporters.

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“It was a great feeling when I crossed that line, I felt like a kid again,” said the 5-feet-4 Dettori, who emerged from the media scrum just in time to admire a replay of his stretch run on the video board.

“It’s a childhood dream to come and ride at Saratoga and I managed to do it,” he added. “It’s a great feeling.”

Dettori arrived in Saratoga on Friday after spending the better part of two days traveling across the world from Istanbul to England, where he slept in the airport, to New York City to Albany and finally to Saratoga before the start of the meet.

“When I arrived I thought I was in Disney World, there were so many people,” he said. “I thought maybe I got the wrong venue but it’s actually a race track. It’s nice to see so many people at the races.”

Two such people enjoying the race track were Mark Bombard and Chris Heeley of Albany, who stood waiting for Dettori near the jockey’s room after his second mount of the day.

Bombard had a newspaper folded in his back pocket and was wearing a bright red Arsenal jersey with the No. 7 and the name “Dettori” inscribed on the back.

“You’ve got to keep your eyes open because (Dettori) is coming any minute,” he said, pulling the newspaper out of his back pocket, revealing a Racing Post newspaper with Dettori on the cover dating back to July of 2011.

“I’ve been carrying this around for three years,” Bombard said. “We’re his No. 1 fans.”

The duo has seen Dettori in over 30 races, including mounts in Paris, England and in the United States. They’ve met him while abroad and were beyond excited when Dettori announced he’d be coming to Saratoga for the first time this summer.

“I’m still crying. I haven’t slept since, I’ve been a nervous wreck,” said Bombard.

“You won’t meet a nicer guy in racing. For a guy that’s the international face of racing, you won’t meet a nicer guy. He’s really spectacular,” said Heeley, who has a photo of the jockey on his desk at work.

“People at work say, ‘Who is this guy in this picture?’” he said. “It’s the Michael Jordan of horse racing. Everybody knows his name, he’s the biggest brand on the planet.”

The two did eventually get to see Dettori after both his victories, the last of which by one length over Chasing Paradise to end the meet’s first day.